AUSZUG AKTUELLER MELDUNGEN ZUM THEMA IRAN AUS UNSEREM TÄGLICHEN NAHOST-NEWSLETTER…

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER – Wiesenthal Centre to INTERPOL: „Issue Warrants for Arrest on Sight of Iranians Implicated in AMIA Argentine Jewish Centre Bombing“
Paris, 28 September 2007 – In a letter to the Lyon-based INTERPOL Secretary-General, Ronald K. Noble, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, recalled their meeting at a Counter-Terrorism session of the World Economic Forum in Davos. „We briefly discussed the significance of INTERPOL ‚Red Notices‘ (international arrest warrants) in the efforts of the late Simon Wiesenthal to bring Nazi war criminals to justice.“
Samuels explained that „the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, in its pursuit of justice in the case of contemporary mass murderers, once again seeks the support of INTERPOL.“
The letter noted that, „in October 2006, Argentine Chef Prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, indicted eight public figures in Iran for the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Welfare building in Buenos Aires, resulting in 85 murdered and more than 150 wounded:
– Hashemi Rafsanjani, then President of Iran
– Ali Akbar Velayati, then Foreign Minister
– Ali Fallahijan, then Chief of Intelligence
– Mohsen Rezai, then Commander of the Revolutionary Guard
– Imad Mougnieh, Chief of the External Security Service of Hezbollah
– Ahmed Vahidi, then Commander of the „Al Quds“ (Jerusalem) Forces
– Mohsen Rabbani, former diplomatic representative in Argentina
– Ahmad Ashagri, former diplomatic representative in Argentina The Judge in this case, Rodolfo Corral, added a 9th accused:
– Hadi Soleimanpour, former Ambassador of Iran in Argentina.“
Samuels continued, „These nine names were submitted to INTERPOL as an Argentine arrest warrant in November 2006. On 15 March 2007, INTERPOL’s Executive Committee approved the issue of ‚Red Notices‘ to six of those implicated in the bombing, thus granting impunity to President Rafsanjani, Foreign Minister Velayati and Ambassador Soleimanpour. Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, in his address this week to the United Nations General Assembly, appealed to Tehran for cooperation in bringing justice to this case.“
The Centre, nevertheless, expressed concern that „apparently, the issuing of the ‚Red Notices‘ for the remaining six accused – already approved by the Executive Committee in March – is now to be determined by a majority vote of the 186 member states attending the 76th INTERPOL General Assembly on 5-8 November in Marrakech, Morocco.“
„This procedure“, contended the Centre, „after a delay of one year since the original Argentine arrest request, would have INTERPOL exceed its police functions when its arrest responsibilities are turned into a political debate at its General Assembly.“
The letter noted that, „according to the section on ‚Governance‘ on the INTERPOL website: ‚The General Assembly (…) takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international co-operation, working methods, finances and programmes of activities.. .'“, adding, “ Indeed, it is also noted on your website that ‚red notices are issued on the basis of an arrest warrant from a member-state. ‚ Hardly an agenda item under the General Assembly’s constitutional procedures.
Samuels stressed that „both Argentina and Iran are member-states of INTERPOL; the ‚Red Notices‘ should have been issued long ago, according to the normal procedure.“
He suggested that, „had Simon Wiesenthal been treated in this fashion, few of the 1,100 Nazi war criminals that he exposed would have met justice,“
continuing, „We were so proud that INTERPOL, liberated in 1945 from its Heinrich Himmler administration, became the paramount cross-border police agency in defending freedom and democracy.“
The letter called the AMIA bombing „the worst antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust“, protesting that „if its perpetrators are granted impunity by the General Assembly of INTERPOL, that day will mark the 9/11 of global law enforcement and its criminal investigation system.“
„Mr Secretary General, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre counts on you to ensure that INTERPOL does its duty in calling upon its affiliates in all its member-states – including Iran – to arrest the AMIA perpetrators on sight,“
urged Samuels.
For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33.609.77.01. 58

1. AFP – Iranisches Parlament bezeichnet US-Armee und CIA als „Terroristen“
   Das iranische Parlament hat in einem Mehrheitsbeschluss die US-Armee und den US-Geheimdienst CIA des Terrorismus bezichtigt. Mehr »

2. AP – Iranisches Parlament nennt CIA und US-Armee Terrororganisatione n
   Reaktion auf Beschluss des US-Senats – Kein Kommentar in Washington Mehr »

3. HA’ARETZ – Iran’s parliament okays labeling CIA, U.S. Army terrorist groups
   Move seen as retaliation for U.S. vote in favor of naming Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

4. JP – Iran to label CIA, US Army terror groups
   Parliament cites support for Israel’s killing of Palestinians, dropping nuclear bombs on Japan.

AFP – Keine neuen UN-Sanktionen gegen Iran vor November
Die internationale Gemeinschaft hat dem Iran eine neue Frist zur Aufgabe seines umstrittenen Atomprogramms gesetzt. Mehr »

1. AP – Entscheidung über Iran-Sanktionen im November
   New York (AP) Die Außenminister der fünf ständigen Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats und Deutschlands haben eine Entscheidung über neue Sanktionen gegen den Iran bis November vertagt. Mehr »

AFP – Frankreich nimmt gegenüber dem Iran kein Blatt mehr vor den Mund 
Paris (AFP) – Die französische Regierung nimmt gegenüber dem Iran wegen dessen Atomprogramm kein Blatt mehr vor den Mund: Frankreich glaube dem iranischen Staatschef Mahmud Ahmadinedschad nicht, erklärte das Präsidialamt in Paris am Donnerstag. Ahmadinedschad behaupte, der Iran verfolge friedliche Absichten mit seinem umstrittenen Atomprogramm. „Letzten Endes glauben wir ihm nicht. Alle wissen, dass das Programm militärische Ziele hat“, sagte Elysée-Sprecher David Martinon. Vergangene Woche hatte Frankreichs Außenminister Bernard Kouchner für Aufregung gesorgt, als er vor einem möglichen Krieg gegen den Iran warnte.

1. AFP – Iran: Frankreichs Außenminister erläutert seine „Kriegs“-Äußerung
   Nach seinen umstrittenen Äußerungen über einen möglichen Krieg gegen den Iran hat Frankreichs Außenminister Bernard Kouchner sich nach iranischen Angaben noch einmal dazu erklärt.
   
   

EJP – WJC president to discuss Iranian issue with Merkel in Berlin

1. ddp – Klage von Yasmin K. auf Asyl abgelehnt
   Die Iranerin Yasmin K. (Name geändert) erhält vorläufig kein Asyl in Deutschland. Die Klage der Frau auf Gewährung von Asyl sei am 19. September abgewiesen worden, wie das Verwaltungsgericht Berlin am Donnerstag mitteilte.

2. B.Z. – Jasmin Tabatabai kämpft um das Leben der lesbischen Iranerin
   Yasmin K.* soll in den Iran abgeschoben werden. Dort droht ihr die Steinigung
   Marc Paustian
   Beide kommen aus dem Iran: Schauspielerin Tabatabai (40) und Yasmin K.* (31)
   Yasmin K.* (31) schöpft etwas Mut – das erste Mal seit Monaten. So lange kämpft die lesbische Iranerin schon gegen ihre Abschiebung (B.Z. berichtete). Jetzt bekommt sie prominente Unterstützung. Schauspielerin Jasmin Tabatabai (40), die selbst im Iran aufgewachsen ist, will ihr helfen.
   Bis zu ihrem zwölften Lebensjahr lebte die Künstlerin in Teheran. Im Film „Fremde Haut“ spielte sie eine lesbische Frau, die in Deutschland nach Schutz sucht. Sie weiß genau von den Problemen in ihrer Heimat: „Das Rechtssystem ist mittelalterlich. Steinigung wird dort wirklich praktiziert. Es ist eines der letzten Länder, in dem Homosexualitä t unter Todesstrafe steht“, sagt Tabatabai. 

B.Z. – Barbarischer Iran/ 80 Hiebe für ein Bier und einen Seitensprung
Vor aller Augen schlägt der Polizist gnadenlos zu
So wird ein Seitensprung im Iran gesühnt: Mit voller Wucht knallt ein Polizist seine Gerte immer wieder auf den Striemen übersäten Rücken seines Opfers.
80 Schläge musste Saeed Ghambari (25) mitten auf einem Platz in Qazvin über sich ergehen lassen, während ihn zwei andere Polizisten an Armen und Beinen festhalten.

TIME – Inflating a Little Man
Wednesday, Sep. 26, 2007 By JOE KLEIN
A long time ago, when the Soviet Union was beginning to shatter, a Russian friend cracked a joke, and I doubled up laughing on a snowy street in Moscow. „I wish I could smile the way you Americans do,“ he said. I asked why he couldn’t. He said he’d been trained by his parents never to show emotions in public. A stray smile could be misinterpreted, could mean the Gulag. I realized then that my reaction to his joke had been a political statement — a reflexive demonstration of my freedom. I thought about that when the laughter began at Columbia University on Sept. 24. I wondered how quickly it took Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to realize they were laughing at him, not with him, after his blithe assertion that there are no homosexuals in Iran. He gazed out into the audience, bemused. He could understand those who found him reprehensible; he courted their disapproval, thrived on it. But to be found ridiculous? How devastating. How delightfully Western.

worldpoliticsreview – A Thriller as Propaganda: On the Iranian TV Series ‚Zero Degree Turn‘
Wahied Wahdat-Hagh | Bio 27 Sep 2007
Every Monday at 10 p.m. for the past several weeks, millions of Iranians have been hunkering down in front of the „Bearded Box“ — as Iranians like to call Iran’s state-controlled television, since bearded clerics are so often all there is to see on it. They are tuning in, however, not in order to listen to yet another representative of the state clergy, but rather to follow a TV series on the persecution of the Jews in the 1940s.
Even the Wall Street Journal has enthusiastically reported on the series: underscoring thereby that Iran’s state-controlled television — unlike the President of the country, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — does not treat the Holocaust as a myth or deny the persecution of the Jews under National Socialism. The author of the WSJ article, Farnaz Fassihi, is even convinced that the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has not endorsed the views of President Ahmadinejad.
Fassihi finds it surprising that Iranian television would broadcast the 22-part series titled „Zero Degree Turn.“ As she notes, the series centers on the love between the Iranian-Palestinian Muslim Habib Parsa, a young philosophy student studying in Paris, and a French Jewish woman. Their story takes place during the German occupation. When the lives of his beloved and her family are in danger, the young Iranian philosopher uses his contacts to obtain Iranian passports for them, thus permitting them to flee to Iran.

1. MEMRI Special Dispatch-Iran – September 27, 2007 – No. 1726 – Zero Degree Orbit (Episode 2): Zionist Conspirator Escapes From Jail, Gets Killed 
   The following are excerpts from Episode 2 of „Zero Degree Orbit,“ an Iranian drama series which aired on Channel 1, Iranian TV on April 30, 3007. The series originally aired on Channel 1 in April and was later rebroadcast on Jaam-E-Jam3 TV in June.
   To view this clip visit: http://www.memritv. org/clip/ en/1565.htm.
   To view excerpts from Episode 1 of „Zero Degree Orbit,“ visit: http://www.memritv. org/clip/ en/1556.htm.
   Dr. Parsa: „In fact, your assumption was correct, Mr. Menuhin. The evidence suggests that in all likelihood, it was the handiwork of fanatic Jews.“
   Anti-Zionist Rabbi Menuhin: „It is more likely the work of the Jewish Agency. They don’t mind presenting life here as scary and unsafe, in order to convince as many Jews as possible to emigrate to Palestine. What is the name of the man you arrested?“.. .
   

YNET– Iran reformist warns democracy at stake
Top reformist Mohsen Mirdamadi says demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at his visit to Columbia Unversity only strengthens his political agenda
Associated Press Published:  09.27.07, 11:00 / Israel News 
One of Iran’s top reform politicians said Wednesday that demonizing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — such as in this week’s Columbia University forum — only strengthens hard-liners‘ hand as Iranians rally around their otherwise unpopular leader.
Even more damaging would be a military strike against Iran, which Mohsen Mirdamadi said would set back democracy a decade or more.
Mirdamadi leads Iran’s largest pro-reform party, which has been working to make a comeback after being forced from power by hard-liners like Ahmadinejad who are close to the country’s Islamic clerical leadership.
He told The Associated Press that Ahmadinejad should have little chance of re-election in two years because of increasing criticism that he has failed to fix the economy and has hurt Iran on the world stage.

MEMRIBLOG – Iranian Daily: „The Intelligence That the West Currently Has on Iran’s Nuclear Program is Limited to the Sites Accessible to IAEA Inspectors – And More Than That They Do Not Know“
Against the backdrop of the increasing threat of a possible attack on Iran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Ali J’afari warned the countries in the region against permitting the U.S. to attack Iran from its territory, saying „We will pay you back, and this is only natural.“

MEMRIBLOG – Iranian Supreme Leader’s Representative Rohani: Russia Is Playing Games With Us
Hassan Rohani, former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and current representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the council, who also heads the Strategic Studies Center of Iran’s Expediency Council, has said that although 2008 has nearly arrived, it was not at all clear when the nuclear at Bushehr would be activated by Russia, as per the agreement.

IKG – Protest gegen den Iran und seine europäischen Unterstützer in Wien 
Wien (OTS) – Die Gruppe Café Critique und die Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien rufen gemeinsam mit weiteren antifaschistischen und jüdischen Organisationen am Sonntag, den 30. 9. um 18 Uhr zu einer Kundgebung am Stephansplatz auf, um gegen das geplante 22-Milliarden- Euro-Geschä ft der OMV mit dem Iran zu protestieren.
Die Veranstalter verweisen auf den repressiven Charakter des iranischen Regimes, auf die Vernichtungsdrohung en gegenüber Israel und die Versuche der Regierung Ahmadinejad, in den Besitz von Atomwaffen zu gelangen.
Das für Ende dieses Jahres anvisierte 22-Milliarden- Euro-Geschä ft mit der iranischen Diktatur würde Österreich und Europa auf lange Sicht zu strategischen Partnern des Iran machen. Die OMV laufe Gefahr, zum Terrorpaten zu werden. Der Iran müsse durch das Gegenteil von dem, was derzeit praktiziert wird, zum Einlenken bei seinem Atomprogramm gebracht werden: durch konsequente politische Isolation und ökonomischen Boykott.